Fluorescent For You

Chapter 1: An Encounter

"Life is such a drag", thought Masamune Saga as he was walking home from school

"Well at least mine is anyway. My parents suck, school sucks, everyone at school sucks…."

Masamune wasn't really a fan of anyone or anything. He was as blank as a canvas and never showed any emotion. You see his parents were never home because of their jobs and when they were home they would scream at each other for just about anything. They hardly ever acknowledged Masamune. He was kinda just there. He had no friends at school and couldn't care less about what he was learning. Despite that he was extremely popular with the girls. They loved him, his dark hair and honey eyes, his "I'm too cool for you an any of this" kind of stance he had. He actually dated a few of them. H dated them but was never actually interested in them. They were all the same, they were only with him for the sake of having a hot boyfriend. Masamune would dump them all, the girls never shared any of his interests, or even cared about them for that matter. They didn't love him, but that was what he wanted. He wanted someone who was truly interested, someone, anyone he could talk to who would talk to him back and truly mean it.

But there was no love

That's why Masamune was the way he was, cold, cruel, emotionless. The only thing he loved were his cat, Sorata, and books. Yes books. He loved all kinds of them, they were his escape from own colorless life.

"I wonder if there are any new releases today." Masamune thought to himself as he made his way to the book store. That's where he went almost every day after school. It was like his second home. The store was called Marimo Books and had only recently opened. The store was like a supercenter for books of all kinds and even had multiple floors. It took only a few minutes for him to get there, considering Masamune would find any excuse to not go home.

He stepped into the humongous store and took a deep breath. There were quite a few people but not too much to make him turn around and leave. He stood there for a moment trying to figure out where he was going to look first. Then he saw a promotional poster for a new set of short stories. They were written by a 17 year old prodigy known as Akihiko Usami. Masamune was a huge fan of his. He was amazed at how amazing at how someone his age could be such an amazing and successful writer. He decided that volume of short stories was what he wanted and headed for the second floor where they were located. He finally found the aisle where all of Usami's work was displayed.

"Damn it" masamune said as he realized there were no more volumes of the short stories he wanted. He stared looking at nearby shelves to see if anybody had misplaced one and in the midst of all his searching he tripped over something, or someone for that matter

"Ow what the hell!" He turned around to see a teenage boy sitting in the aisle. The boy was wearing the same uniform as Masamune, which made him even more annoyed. To think he had to deal with classmates even when he wasn't in school pissed him off.

Masamune spoke up to get the boys attention. "Ummm why are you sitting on the floor, you're kind of in the way" The young boy looked up at Masamune as if he haadn't noticed him tripping over him and yelling at him. He had big emerald eyes that almost didn't seem real, with light brown hair and a pretty face. Masamune looked at him waiting for an answer.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you talking to me? Said the boy which made Masamune visibly confused. "Yes I'm talking to you. There's no one else here. I tripped over your freakin legs, did you not feel that" said Masamune who was clearly perplexed.

The young boy just looked at him and finally stood up from where he was sitting. He brushed himself off and bowed in front of Masamune. "I'm very sorry senpai for tripping you and not realizing it, I was so into my book that I didn't even realize, please forgive me"

Masamune was thrown off and even felt uncomfortable at the younger boys apology. It was far too formal for a high school kid like him so he had to clear the air,

"You don't have to bow and beg for my forgiveness just be careful next time." The younger boy stood up straight looking confused at first but then smiled at his senpai. "and how did you know I was your senpai?"

"oh I saw the pin on your uniform. So you're a third year huh? I don't think I've ever seen you before though." Masamune suddenly felt awkward. He wasn't used to talking so casually with anybody else besides his own cat. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck feeling uncomfortable. Those green eyes of the other made Masamune feel like all his insecurities and secrets were laid out for all to see. He came back to focus when he heard the younger speak. "What did you say?"

" I asked if you were lost or something?" Masamune frowned and responded "why would you think I'm lost?"

"Because most people your age are usually in the manga section, but you're in the fantasy novel section. I was just surprised because I thought I was the only one who found this stuff interesting." Masamune sighed and responded

"You know you're not the only one who likes to read quality novels. Besides I was looking for a particular set of short stories but the store seems to have run out."

The younger looked up at him and brought up whatever book he was so enthralled in.

"Are you talking about this?" Masamune looked at what the boy was holding and noticed it was the book he was looking for, and probably the last one too. Masamune just stared at it not knowing what to say.

"Here you can have it if you want. I was just reading it to pass the time. Don't get me wrong I love Usami senpai's work, but I didn't bring any money with me so you can take it." He held it out to Masamune with an insistent look and finally after moments, Masamune took the book and said

"Are you sure? It's the last one." The younger just looked at Masamune and smiled a smile so genuine it made Masamune feel uneasy.

"Yes I'm sure. Plus I caused you quite a bit of trouble and you're my senpai, so it's the least I could do." And with that the boy grabbed his belongings and started walking away before turning around and saying

"Well I guess I'll see you around senpai." He smiled again and waved before disappearing down the escalators. Masamune was speechless for a moment and finally made his way to the cash register. After he made his purchase he stepped out of the store walking slowly in the direction of his house.

"What was that?" Masamune thought

"I've never talked to anyone from school let alone someone younger than me, and he even liked the same books as me."

He continued walking then gradually came to a stop. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and he could feel a tinge of a headache coming on.

" I had a full on conversation with him. It felt as if I was being pulled towards him, as if I had known him for a while. It just felt right talking to him." Thought Masamune as he stood there staring down at his feet. He finally came back to reality and started walking again trying to piece together what he just experienced.

"I did more talking than I usually do in a freakin month and I didn't even catch his name. How stupid is that?" He quietly laughed to himself not realizing his mind would be filled with thoughts of that mysterious boy for the rest of that night.

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